


sugar, spice, and everything nice (all that we're not made of)

by poisonandink



Category: K (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-27
Updated: 2014-04-28
Packaged: 2018-01-20 22:54:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1528709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poisonandink/pseuds/poisonandink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Suoh is a reluctant barista and Munakata has a penchant for black coffee.</p><p>(aka the mikorei coffee shop AU you never knew you needed)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. prologue

Suoh is eighteen when Kusanagi purchases a spot in the city, declares it a cafe, and settles down. Suoh’s young and purposeless, having somehow miraculously graduated high school with no plans to attend college, so he takes to sleeping in the cafe. There’s a spot right by the window where he can nestle down into the couch and tune out the world. It’s comfortable in its own little way, falling asleep to the smell of roasting grounds and the chatter of daily life fading into the background.

Totsuka stops by often, bringing with him whatever photographs he’s taken that past week. Kusanagi takes to framing them and hanging them on the walls. They provide snapshots into the life of the city, moments captured and frozen in time, locked away in the wooden frames of a quiet cafe. Totsuka chides Suoh whenever he catches him looking at the photographs, gently suggesting that he go out into the city and make something of himself. Suoh’s just too lazy to care. He’s content with the way things are, quiet and peaceful for the first time in his life. There’s a difference between wanting nothing and not knowing what you want, of course, but he doesn’t know the difference and doesn’t really care. It’s enough to sleep away the days in relative silence. 

Six months have passed before Kusanagi finally gets sick of Suoh bumming around. He offers the redhead an ultimatum -- either stop freeloading and falling asleep all over the coffee shop, and go out and find a job, or leave. Suoh would probably be okay with the latter, but Kusanagi’s got that look in his eyes that suggests he’s plotting a murder. He’d like not to die at eighteen, thank you very much.

He somehow gets roped into becoming a barista. In Kusanagi’s words, he’d promised to find a job and the cafe needs more help, anyways. The way Suoh sees it, there’s no difference between falling asleep on a counter and falling asleep on a couch, but Kusanagi seems appeased so he shrugs and goes along with it. He learns how to brew coffee and steam milk. Suoh stops at that. He probably could learn more if he tried, but that would require effort, and he doesn’t put effort into things he doesn’t care about. Besides, most customers can’t tell the difference between their ridiculously complicated orders and plain old cappuccino. The secret is letting them believe that you actually made what they requested.

Suoh’s atrocious customer service probably decreases their business, but the cafe plods along nonetheless. Before they know it, the holiday season has arrived. They take to stocking snowman shaped cookies and Totsuka strings mistletoe along the ceiling, taking pictures of those unfortunate enough to be caught beneath the mistletoe. Customers occasionally inquire after the meaning of the cafe’s name. Suoh makes up a bunch of lies about how it’s an acronym for this or that. To be honest, he’d suggested the name Cafe Homra on a whim and it had somehow caught on. That’s all there really is to it, but people like to believe in things bigger than that, and he figures he’s not one to judge. 

It’s just the three of them at first, but the coffee shop slowly attracts a bunch of misfits. They form a strange sort of family, but they’re family all the same. Suoh wouldn’t give it up for anything. Two years pass by in a blur, the days slowly fading into each other in a comfortable sort of way, much like Anna’s watercolor paintings. 

Fall rolls around, university students flood in in hordes, and the amount of time Suoh gets to sleep on the job steadily decreases. Totsuka unceremoniously dumps a wreath of plastic leaves on Suoh’s head, muttering something about change being in the air. As far as Suoh’s concerned, the only thing in the air is the sickly sweet smell of far too many pumpkin spice lattes. 

But, of course, he has no idea what he’s in for.


	2. sugar and cream

For someone who sleeps so much, Suoh rarely ever dreams. When he does, his dreams are filled with the ashes of burning cities and an aching longing for something -- or someone -- just beyond the reaches of memory. He’s in the middle of one such dream when his head is brutally thrown against the counter.

Suoh blinks blearily, rubbing his hand against the lump forming on his head, and lazily opens his eyes to see hair so blue he’d never have believed it possible. 

Said hair belongs to a man currently in the midst of a tirade against Suoh’s customer service. Or something like that.

Suoh shifts his head to a more comfortable position, placing his chin on his arms before he speaks. “Is it natural?”

The man pauses between words, his mouth opening and closing like a gaping fish as he takes in Suoh’s question. “What?”

“Your hair. Is it naturally that color?”

“That’s none of your business!” the bluenet sputters out indignantly. 

“Whatever you say,” Suoh shrugs. “What’ll it be, then?”

“I’ll have a small black coffee.” The man fidgets with his cardigan as he speaks, attempting to tug it closed. 

“Name?”

“Munakata.” 

Suoh takes his time grabbing a cardboard cup from the stack placed beside the register. There’s a sharpie in his pocket, but he conveniently chooses to ignore it. It takes him another five minutes to find a new one hidden amongst the mess of fliers scattered across the counter. Once he does, he scrawls the name across the cup, handwriting too messy to be decipherable, but that doesn’t really matter considering that he’s the only one working at the moment. 

Munakata lets out a long-suffering sigh. 

Suoh makes sure to take even longer ringing him up. “That’ll be one eighty yen.”

Munakata raises a perfectly groomed eyebrow. Suoh’s starting to wonder how much time this guy spends getting ready in the morning. God, even his shirt is perfectly pressed. Suoh’s never understood people who put effort into their appearance; he practically sleeps in the clothes he wears to work. 

“That’s surprisingly cheap,” Munakata comments, handing over the money. “Then again, I suppose it’s your only way of attracting customers, considering how horrible your customer service is. Honestly, has your boss never heard of employee training?”

Suoh tunes him out, letting his nagging fade to a faint drone, and sets about making the coffee. What had Munakata ordered again? Ah, right. Black coffee. Suoh makes sure to add extra sugar and cream before capping the cup. The guy’s already complained about Suoh’s customer service, he shouldn’t be too surprised by the change to his order. 

Suoh rests his cheek on his palm and watches the show unfold. Munakata pauses outside the cafe, takes a sip of the coffee, and grimaces. He spins around to glare at Suoh, eyes shooting daggers through the window. If looks could kill, Suoh would be reduced to a heap of roadkill; unfortunately for Munakata, glass does a remarkably good job of blocking death stares. The redhead smirks, clenching his fists in anticipation. He’s been itching for a fight for days. Munakata almost looks ready to start one, too, but he suddenly glances down at his watch and hurries away, leaving one last lingering glare. 

Suoh can’t help but feel a vague sense of disappointment. He almost hopes that Munakata will come again. Almost, but not quite. After all, troublesome customers disrupt his much cherished sleep. 

**

“You again?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, your majesty. Were you expecting someone else?” Suoh doesn’t bother to lift up his head. This is the second time Munakata’s rudely awakened him from a nap. He’s comfortable just the way he is, and if Munakata’s bothered by that, well, that’s not his problem. 

A long, drawn-out sigh. “I’ll have a small black coffee, for here.” There’s a pause, then Munakata adds, “Black, this time.” 

It takes Suoh ten minutes to make the coffee, nine of which are spent staring mindlessly at the wall, the seconds dragging on as he makes Munakata wait. He adds cream and sugar, of course. As if he’d let Munakata get what he wants so easily.

Suoh has to deliver the coffee himself since Shohei’s on his break. Tch. How troublesome. Honestly, why does Munakata always show up when he’s the only one working? Call it fate or call it karma, he’s not sure whether he should be grateful or annoyed. 

The cafe’s pretty empty, seeing as it’s a lazy Saturday afternoon, but the bluenet’s tucked himself into a narrow corner of the room. Towering piles of papers and textbooks have been placed on his table, meticulously arranged in some system beyond Suoh’s comprehension. Not that he would actually bother to figure it out. The titles of the books come into view as he walks closer, precariously balancing the cup of coffee on a tray. Suoh stops looking once he spots the words ‘An Unabridged History of Western Legal Theory’ written in faded script. Yeah, no. He has a never-ending list of things that bore him to death, and legal theory is somewhere in the top ten. 

Munakata is so absorbed in his studies that he doesn’t seem to notice Suoh’s approach. He’s carefully jotting down notes, hands stained with the crimson ink smeared across his papers. Suoh’s almost tempted to “spill” coffee on the papers just to see how Munakata will react. He doesn’t, of course, but files the idea in the back of his mind. Someday, but not today. Instead, he sets the coffee down beside the bluenet and waits, making no attempt to hide his smirk. 

“Thanks,” Munakata murmurs, distractedly reaching for the cup. He stops abruptly when he notices the decidedly-not-black coffee. “I am sure I specified that I wanted black coffee, not this monstrosity.” His words are careful and measured, but Suoh can practically see the venom leaking out of every syllable.

Suoh shrugs lazily. “If it bothers you so much, go brew a new cup yourself.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

Munakata slams his hands on the table, quickly rising to his feet. The coffee wobbles but miraculously avoids tipping over. “I’d like to talk to your manager.” Suoh matches his glare, each refusing to blink for fear of losing. Their faces are nearly touching, close enough to punch -- or kiss, but judging by the way things are, it’d probably be the former. 

“He’s not here,” Suoh replies. He carefully spells out each syllable, amused by Munakata’s growing irritation. Kusanagi left half an hour ago, claiming to be picking up groceries, but it’s no secret that he’s really just trying to “bump into” the gorgeous blonde medical student he met awhile back.

“Your manager isn’t here,” Munakata echoes in disbelief. “Really, I shouldn’t be surprised considering that this is the same man who hired a barbarian like you. What kind of self-respecting employer puts up with an employee who sleeps on the job, is rude to customers, and doesn’t even know how to brew a proper cup of coffee? Honestly! I have never seen a barista fall asleep at the register before.” 

Suoh leans closer, letting his lips brush against Munakata’s ear. “Since you’re so upset about me sleeping at the register, why don’t I sleep in your lap instead?” 

Silence.

Munakata is rigid, frozen in stunned surprise. 

Suoh counts the seconds in his mind. He’s ready for whatever the bluenet throws at him, excited even. It’s been so long since he’s had a good fight. Never mind the fact that Kusanagi will have his head once he discovers that Suoh’s been fighting in the cafe. He’ll deal with that somehow.

One.

Two.

Three.

Scalding hot liquid splashes across Suoh’s face, the coffee cup shattering into pieces as it hits the floor, sticky liquid and broken ceramic scattered around him like the broken pieces of his pride. Well. He hadn’t seen that coming.

Munakata pushes past him roughly, yelling something about Suoh’s sheer audacity. He storms out the door, leaving shocked customers in his wake, books and papers forgotten. If Suoh was a good employee, he would run after the bluenet and apologize. Then again, they’ve already established that Suoh is anything but a good employee. So he stays still, coffee dripping down his clothes, and laughs. That certainly was interesting.

His laughter cuts off when Kusanagi walks into the cafe.

Ah, fuck.

Kusanagi’s going to skin him alive.

**

Munakata’s back a week later.

They fall into a rhythm, Munakata ordering black coffee and Suoh steadfastly making everything but it. The incident never repeats itself, mostly because Kusanagi will murder Suoh if it ever happens again. Suoh and Munakata constantly bicker, arguing over anything and everything, but it’s nice in its own strange way. Kusanagi threatens to ban Munakata at one point, just so he can have one second of peace and quiet. He never actually does, of course. Munakata’s their only regular and that’s something to be treasured, as annoying as his fights with Suoh may be. 

“I’ve never seen you pay so much attention to a customer before,” Kusanagi remarks as they’re closing up shop.

“Hm?” Suoh lights a cigarette, absentmindedly contemplating it. 

“Munakata.”

“He’s fun to mess with.”

Kusanagi chuckles. “For you, maybe.” They stand in silence, watching passerby rush past, the city cloaked in noise and colors. The city really doesn’t sleep, after all. Munakata’s probably awake somewhere, cramming endless amounts of facts and figures into that pretty little head of his. What a tiring way to live. Then again, at least Munakata knows what he’s doing with his life. Suoh can’t say the same for himself. “You should invite him to Anna’s birthday party.”

Suoh turns to look at the blonde. “That’s three months from now.”

“So you’ll have plenty of time to invite him.” Kusanagi stubs out the cigarette. “Just think about it, okay? I’ll see you later.”

Suoh nods farewell to Kusanagi’s retreating form, taking another drag of his cigarette. Invite Munakata to Anna’s birthday party, huh? It’s not a bad idea. He’ll consider it. Maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, this fic is turning out to be much longer than I originally intended. Just one more chapter left...hopefully.
> 
> As a side note, I pictured Munakata wearing something like this: http://lookbook.nu/look/3226017-Converse-Shoes-New-Yorker-Pants-Zara-Cardigan

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies for the slow build up, I promise Munakata will show up in the next chapter.
> 
> Also, I'm desperately looking for a beta reader for this fic, so if anyone's interested, please let me know in the comments. Thanks!


End file.
